SALT LAKE CITY — Just over six months into 2024 and already more fentanyl pills have been seized in Utah than during the entirety of last year.
As of Thursday, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Rocky Mountain Field Division has already reached a new state record, having seized nearly 800,000 fentanyl pills in 2024.
In comparison, the agency confiscated an estimated 664,000 pills in all of 2023.
“It’s an unfortunate record to set, especially considering it took only a half-year to get there,” said DEA Rocky Mountain Field Division Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Pullen.
During a briefing Thursday, the DEA shared the numbers to show how the drug crisis in the area is not slowing down, only increasing as fentanyl continues to pour into Utah.
One of the reasons for the drug's popularity is that it's cheap to produce, with a pill costing no more than 4 cents and selling for up to $6 in Salt Lake City.
United States Attorney Trina A. Higgins said one of the cases her office is prosecuting involved 200,000 fentanyl pills seized and worth $450,000. Higgins said half the pills contained a lethal does of the drug.
"The danger to our communities is staggering," she said.
Of the 108,000 Americans who died due to drug poisoning last year, the CDC reports 70% of those cases involved fentanyl.
